Lauren deStefano chooses not to renew WITHER movie rights

Though Aly and AJ Michalka at Violet House bought rights to Lauren deStefano’s Wither in 2011, the Chemical Garden trilogy will not become a feature film.

Although the Michalka sisters have renewed their option and applied to renew again, Wither was no longer a story deStefano wanted to see on the big screen, and so she denied their most recent option to renew their rights.

“Many of my followers know that I struggle with anxiety. While a film adaptation is a dream for many, I find myself dreading the attention it would bring me. I find myself frightened of turning on a television and seeing a commercial where actors are dressed up like my characters, forever changing the images in my mind. Images that can never accurately exist,” said deStefano on Facebook. “In the past few years, I’ve seen many Hollywood adaptations of books I’ve read, even loved. I don’t feel that Wither is a big Hollywood story. When I wrote it in 2009, I was twenty-four years old and a temp receptionist struggling to make ends meet. I did not anticipate then how big this story would become. I am truly grateful for all that has come of this story and the world it has opened up for me. But the fact remains that I didn’t write it with Hollywood in mind.”

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YA Interrobang is your source for all things YA literature. We launched in August 2013 to connect readers to the books and authors they love, and to keep them updated on the issues and news that affect it.